Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team could not find a way to top No. 5 Minnesota on the road as the Badgers fell 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, at Maturi Pavilion Saturday night.

Wisconsin (14-5, 5-5 Big Ten) took the first set, but then fell in three consecutive sets to Minnesota (19-2, 8-2 Big Ten). The Badgers hit .189 (59 kills – 26 errors – 175 attempts) and were outpaced by Minnesota's .240 (60 – 20 – 167).

Coming off Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, Dana Rettke had a dominant performance, earning 22 kills without committing a single hitting error. Rettke hit .674 (22 – 0 – 34) on the night. Rettke's fellow middle blocker, Tionna Williams, also made an impact, adding 11 kills.

The Badgers and Golden Gophers played an even match for most of the night. Both teams had 10 blocks, and the Badgers picked up three aces compared to Minnesota's two.

In the backcourt, Wisconsin had 74 digs to Minnesota's 73. The Badgers were paced by Tiffany Clark, who collected 21 digs, her third 20-plus dig performance of the season.

Notables

• Freshman Sydney Hilley recorded her team-best seventh double-double of the season with 52 assists and 11 digs.
• Minnesota is just the fourth opponent to hit better than Wisconsin this season. The Gophers hit .240, while the Badgers hit .189.
• Senior Lauryn Gillis recorded a season high for digs with 16.
• Sophomore Madison Duello matched her career high with four digs.
• Freshman Riley Bell tied her career high with two digs.

Quotable

"They're really good defending the pins and the high balls. It's really hard for our left-sides to score against them. Those long rallies—they were winning those more than we were. And I have to find a way to help our pins score. Not too many people are against them, but that was the biggest thing tonight."

"I thought Dana was fantastic tonight. Really great match for her. She was pretty much unstoppable tonight. Late into the match, I told Sydney Hilley that she was making things more difficult than they needed to be—she just needed to keep giving Dana the ball at every opportunity. Dana was working harder than she ever was."

"There are a lot of positives to take from tonight's match. That's a good team we lost to."
-Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

Up next:

The Badgers continue Big Ten play with a showdown at No. 1 Penn State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT) before returning to the UW Field House to face Northwestern on Saturday at 7 p.m.